


i keep looking up in this world full of doubt

by notthebigspoon



Series: Brandon and Hobbes [14]
Category: Baseball RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-09
Updated: 2013-01-09
Packaged: 2017-11-24 07:44:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/632070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notthebigspoon/pseuds/notthebigspoon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“What do we do with it?”</p><p>	“You don't... you don't do anything with them, really. Just love them. Well, and there's the diapers.”</p><p>	“I'm really glad I don't have opposable thumbs.”</p><p>Title taken from Like I Roll by Black Stone Cherry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	i keep looking up in this world full of doubt

“What do we do with it?”

“You don't... you don't do anything with them, really. Just love them. Well, and there's the diapers.”

“I'm really glad I don't have opposable thumbs.”

That's true. But mostly Hobbes is glad that his best friend is happy. Brandon is fast asleep on the bed, blankets around his chin with Braylyn napping next to him. It's a little breathtaking to see the two of them. Hobbes think it's beautiful. He glances at Buster before creeping closer and resting his chin on the bed, watching Braylyn's face, laughing when she yawns just the way that Brandon does.

If he's honest about it, and Hobbes is generally an honest cat, he's absolutely terrified by all of this. Braylyn is so tiny and so breakable. He hasn’t' touched her once in spite of Brandon and Buster's prompting. He can bruise Brandon and his friends without even thinking about it. He doesn't think he could handle it if he hurt the baby, however inadvertently he did it. Brandon seeing his daughter is conditional as it is, Jalynne still thinks he's off his rocker.

He hesitates for a moment before nudging the baby with his nose. She doesn't wake but a small hand lands square on his nose and squeezes. He beams and doesn't even care when he hears Buster laughing at him. He noses her one more time before backing away, already afraid that he's gotten too close. He makes tracks around the bed to lick Brandon's hand before padding out of the bedroom and downstairs. He doesn't know Buster is following him until he feels a broad hand rubbing between his ears. They sit side by side on the back stoop of the house, staring out at the yard.

“I keep thinking I'm going to screw this up for us.” He says quietly, tail swishing until Buster catches it and starts toying with it. “I don't want to hurt her. And I don't want to hurt him. Not that I really think I'll do something that bad, I'd never do it on purpose. I'm just scared. And I'm not even her parent. Just Uncle Hobbes. Brandon must be scared to death. He won't admit it but I'm sure he is.”

“It's normal.” Buster says, turning Hobbes's tail loose and shrugging. “I was the same way when Lee and Addy were born. I think a lot of people are. There's no instruction book for this. Well, there are but you have to make your own way. Besides, you love both of them. That'll take you a long way.”

“True.” Hobbes mumbles, moving onto the grass and stretching out, head pillows on his paws. “Don't tell Brandon I was freaking out. I'm supposed to be the stable one. God knows someone has to take care of us. Brandon might not be crazy but he sure as hell can't function alone. Without me and you, he'd implode on himself or something. Stupid parents screwed him for life.”

“Really think he can't function without me?”

Buster's voice sounds strange, thick, and when Hobbes looks up at him, he's staring straight ahead. Somehow, Hobbes doesn't know how, he smells hopeful. It's a little funny when it strikes Hobbes that Buster wants that to be true. They all want to be wanted, so badly, but they can never believe each other when they promise that they're wanted, that they're needed. It's a good thing they all have each other. There's probably few people on earth that are equipped to deal with their particular brand of crazy.

From that perspective, they have it pretty good. Have it _really_ good. Brandon has been so much better since he came to the Giants. Philosophical or not, Hobbes doesn't know how well they could have done in the real world.

The might never have had a house this nice with this much privacy. It's the first time in their life that Hobbes has been able to freely roam around a yard. He gets all the fresh air he wants whenever he wants instead of having to wait for Brandon to see if it's safe. He'd be lying if he said he wouldn't miss the roof of their old building a little. Maybe he can convince Brandon to organize a field trip once in a while. The only other things on his bucket list are the boat ride Molina and Sandoval have promised him and a run around AT &T park. Maybe he'll sit at short stop.

When Buster says he's going to head inside and start dinner, Hobbes nods and thumps his leg before rolling onto his side and curling into a ball. He closes his eyes and thinks of the night Braylyn was born. Brandon had called and told Hobbes they had a baby. It hadn't been until later that Hobbes had realized that the 'we' wasn't Brandon and Jalynne or even Brandon and Buster. It was Brandon and Hobbes. _They_ have a baby. No matter who else comes and goes in their life, he and Brandon are always going to have each other and the baby.

The MVP boyfriend for his best friend is just a perk.

He climbs to his feet and pushes the button for the door, nudging it open when the lock clicks and the door cracks. He follows his nose to the kitchen, the smell of hotdogs dragging him forward like a leash. Buster is standing at the stove, dumping a can of chili into a pot. Brandon is at the kitchen table, still looking half asleep while holding a bottle for Braylyn. That's another thing about Braylyn that makes Hobbes laugh. She has her dad's appetite.

He puts his head on Brandon's knee, purring happily when Brandon scritches behind his left ear. He licks Brandon's wrist in thanks like he always does and hesitates a moment before licking the side of Braylyn's face. She whimpers but it sounds more like a general baby noise than a noise of distress. Hobbes would know, he's been cataloging it in his head. Satisfied that he hasn't completely traumatized their girl, he lays down at Brandon's feet and closes his eyes. It's his turn for a nap.

Never mind the hotdogs. He can have a tuna sandwich when he wakes up.


End file.
